A winning combo: Bacon fat and cereal

Several of you commented about the Party Mix recipe I metioned last week. Yes, the Jewish members of the department knew about the bacon fat, and embraced it. Several of you wanted the recipe. We added a link to it but it was later in the day, so some of you may have missed it; I’ve included the recipe below.

I’ve been making this party mix for at least 15 years, and it started out as a joke. I made it for a story we were doing on foods from our childhoods. It was so popular that I’ve ended up making it every year. When the staff comes in and sees me stirring two big stainless steel bowls filled with Chex cereal, Cheerios, Spanish peanuts, pretzels, lots of bacon grease and Tabasco, they know the holidays have officially begun.

Whether the theme is Chinese, Mexican or Jewish, there’s always a place for Party Mix. The original recipe came from the back of the Chex box, but it’s been adapted though the years to this:

Party Mix

7 cups Rice Chex (7 ounces)

7 cups Wheat Chex (11 ounces)

7 cups Corn Chex (7 ounces)

1 box Cheerios (15 ounces)

1 package thin pretzels (9 ounces)

1 can Spanish peanuts (12.5 ounces)

1/3 cup bacon grease

1/2 cup margarine

2 tablespoons Tabasco

1 heaping teaspoon chili powder (with salt)

Mix together the cereals, pretzels and peanuts in a large roasting pan and set aside.

Melt together the bacon grease, margarine and Tabasco and stir into the dry ingredients. Sprinkle on the chili powder and stir again.